February 20, 2016

Useful Links

Welcome to BanDGS.info - Ban Driven Grouse Shooting

This website has been setup to highlight the illegal persecution which is happening on the grouse moors and the impact they, the grouse moors have on our wildlife and the people who surround these often barren hills. Illegal persecution is a major threat to Britain's birds of prey as they are often illegally killed on upland and moorland areas where land is managed for grouse shooting. Animals killed on grouse moors, all illegally, include but is not limited to the following:

It is not illegal to kill all of the animals on that list, it is illegal to kill them in the way that they have been killed. Legal means of killing is not enough for gamekeepers and they don't care because they are rarely caught, even when they are caught they are more often than not treated with leniency. The percentage of wildlife crimes which result in a successful prosecution would not be tolerated if the success rate was replicated for other crimes so why should wildlife crime be treated differently?

Most of the dead animals are found by members of the general public who don't normally stray too far from paths. Paths cover a very small percentage of the moors so how many more animals are being killed which are going unseen? Some people estimate that roughly 1 in 10 are found which means 1000 are killed for every 100 found, the number is probably higher and could be significantly higher.

Also 14 domestic Cats and 14 Dogs are known to have died, these were pets who will have been loved by owners, they weren't some unknown animals. The RSPB claim "review shows that over the past 20 years a significant majority of cases take place in areas associated with game-bird shooting, and in particular within upland areas managed intensively for driven grouse shooting."

In Scotland between 1994 and 2014, 779 birds of prey were known to have been illegally killed. The known illegally killed birds included 458 Buzzards, 104 Red Kites, 37 Golden Eagles, 30 Hen Harriers, 16 Goshawks, 10 White-Tailed Eagles and a fish eating Osprey (work that one out).

Over a 9 year period, 2005 to 2014, 57% of confirmed poisoning incidents took place on Grouse Moors, we have no reason to believe that England is any better, it may in fact be worse.

The RSPB also revealed that 86% of people convicted of raptor persecution between 1994-2014 were gamekeepers, again, we have no reason to believe that England is any better, again, it may be worse.

The website will give details of the illegal persecution of raptors, the legal persecution of mammals and floods caused by water running off the hills with little or nothing to slow the water flow. We will highlight issues specific to a rich man's "sport" which benefits few at the cost of many.

The whole purpose of the website is to see driven grouse shooting confined to history and for it to become a thing of the past.